The First Amendment Committee is holding the Feast on the First, an event featuring Poorly Drawn Pets and more. Poorly Drawn Pets is a fundraiser event for the Story County Animal Shelter where anyone can donate money to have their pet drawn. The event as a whole will be held on Central Campus and is open for anyone to attend Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The fundraiser itself is a digital one, with photo submissions and a $25 donation being made to this link in order to have a pet drawn. The finished product will be emailed in the weeks following the event.

This year’s First Amendment Days theme is “Humor Me.”

Faculty and students will be the artists offering their skills to create portraits of any kind of pet you may have. Dogs, cats, turtles, fish and any other animal you may hold near and dear to your heart can all be drawn for you. 

The event will have food prepared and provided by the student group Block and Bridle. There will be free t-shirts available for attendees as well. 

Kaylee Wellik, the program coordinator and event planner at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, said it is a come-and-go event intended to help students feel reconnected to their pets while being away from them. 

Story County Animal Shelter is a no-kill animal shelter that also handles animal control for rural Story County and 12 cities around it. Some of the responsibilities of the shelter include handling complaints about animals, providing shelter to lost animals and enforcing rules regarding the treatment of animals. In 2023, the shelter had 448 animal intakes, 371 of which were adopted out and 65 were returned to their owners. 

For more information, you can visit the website, which provides details regarding the adoption of pets, fostering and volunteer opportunities, among other things.